Chick-Fil-A: The Fries Are Not Worth It

Chick-Fil-A is an extremely controversial company that has come under fire for donating large amounts of money to anti-LBGT organizations.

One of Chic-Fil-As many locations.

Walker Kinsler

One of Chic-Fil-A’s many locations.

Annie Culbert, Staff Writer

Chick-Fil-A. Famous for their chicken nuggets, shakes, and financially supporting originizations that oppose rights for LGBT people. Recently, Chick-Fil-A was banned from opening restaurants in New York’s Buffalo Niagara International Airport or San Antonio International Airport. This change occurred following the stepping in of politicians worried about the impact of Chick-Fil-A’s history of anti-LGBT statements and donations. Media spokespeople for the company have cited their religious views as the reason for the donations. Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy said the US was “inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and we say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”

Consumers support companies by giving them their money. By financially supporting them, people are also supporting their policies. Even if people don’t believe the same things as Chick-Fil-A, when they buy a meal there some of their money might be going towards anti-LGBT companies.

However, some people believe that customers can like Chick-Fil-A’s food without supporting their politics. The question remains; can people support companies with questionable ethics products?

“I mean sometimes I’ll eat there without even thinking about it, but then read up on their policies and think about how it’s impacting other people and then I don’t feel like supporting them for a while, but then it slips my mind again and the cycle kind of repeats. I maybe eat there once every 3 months, (if that),” Rachel Ruisch ‘21 said.

Chick-Fil-A has claimed that they don’t discriminate against any group of people, but the company was sued at least twelve times from 1988-2007. They’ve been proven to have donated $1,653,416 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, $150,000 to the Salvation Army, and $6,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international Christian sports group that houses conservative values and has been known to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community. The FCA Sexual Purity Statement from the Student Leader Application makes clear statements against homosexuality. “God desires His children to lead pure lives of holiness. The Bible is clear in teaching on sexual sin including sex outside of marriage and homosexual acts. Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternative lifestyle acceptable to God.”

Other organizations that have donated to anti-LGBT companies are Salvation Army, Hobby Lobby, and Coachella.

The idea that homosexuality is a sin and needs to be “forgiven” heavily suggests that there is something wrong with LGBT+ people, which there is not. Traditional Christian values that are rooted in homophobia are divisive, outdated, and wrong.

A Chick-Fil-A spokesperson was asked in an interview about the company’s policies concerning Christianity and LGBT.

“According to the Salvation Army, [gay people] deserve death. How do you respond to that, as part of your doctrine?” Ryan said.

“Well, that’s a part of our belief system,” Craibe said.

“So we should die,” Ryan said.

“You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief,” Craibe said.

Chick-Fil-A has claimed time and time again that they have no political agenda, but still donate to anti-LGBT organizations. As long as the company continues to spend their money like this, they will face backlash and eventually consequences for their actions.